The Two Towers – Hobbit Movie News and Rumors | TheOneRing.net™http://www.theonering.net/torwp
Forged by and for fans of J.R.R. TolkienMon, 19 Mar 2018 13:00:33 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.8.521870047Does Amazon’s Middle-earth need a Showrunner? Our Top Ten list.http://www.theonering.net/torwp/2018/01/03/104592-does-amazons-middle-earth-need-a-showrunner-our-top-ten-list/
http://www.theonering.net/torwp/2018/01/03/104592-does-amazons-middle-earth-need-a-showrunner-our-top-ten-list/#respondWed, 03 Jan 2018 06:58:56 +0000http://www.theonering.net/torwp/?p=104592The recent, completely Unexpected news of new Middle-earth stories coming from Amazon Studios has left Tolkien fandom in a bit of a Party mood. There haven’t been many details about which stories will be told, what the format will be, and who will actually be designing and managing this whole process. Do these Middle-earth stories need a Showrunner, or has Amazon Studios just not announced that they already have someone on the team?

Amazon is purported to have paid between $200 to $250 million just for the rights to the story before any costs for development, talent and production are taken into account. This is considered somewhat risky since there is no concept and no creative leader at the helm, and no characters or story to build upon. The only news to come out since the announcement is that Sir Ian McKellen has said he would be happy to don the Grey, pointy hat again.

We humbly submit our Top Ten list, in alphabetical order, of genre writers and Showrunners for consideration by Amazon Studios, and you, the fans. Do you agree or disagree? Did we miss anyone? Sound off in the discussion section below.

1) Adam Horowitz and Edward Kitsis – most recently on Once Upon a Time, previously on Tron: Legacy, Felicity and LOST.

As for Amazon Studios, a big hello from TheOneRing.net, we’ve been dishing on all things Tolkien and Middle-earth related since the 1st Age, AKA 1999, with a chatroom and message board community that dates back to those early years. In fact you can find out what our fans are already saying about what they want to see from these new Middle-earth stories right now on our message boards.

]]>http://www.theonering.net/torwp/2018/01/03/104592-does-amazons-middle-earth-need-a-showrunner-our-top-ten-list/feed/0104592Tolkien Rights and the Amazon Television Deal – some insighthttp://www.theonering.net/torwp/2017/11/15/104416-tolkien-rights-and-the-amazon-television-deal-some-insight/
http://www.theonering.net/torwp/2017/11/15/104416-tolkien-rights-and-the-amazon-television-deal-some-insight/#respondWed, 15 Nov 2017 17:00:00 +0000http://www.theonering.net/torwp/?p=104416In a fascinating article, TORn staffer and author Kristin Thompson gives us some invaluable insight into some of the legal wranglings which may have led to this new The Lord of the Rings television series deal:

The announcement that Amazon will be producing a multi-season television series based on The Lord of the Rings has caused much speculation and not a little confusion. One common assumption seems to be that the television rights to the two hobbit novels were sold to United Artists in 1969, when it obtained the production and distribution rights to make film adaptations.

The contracts for the sale of the film rights were made public in 2008, when they were introduced as evidence in the lawsuit brought by the Tolkien Trust et al. against New Line Cinema over money owed for the percentage they were to get from the receipts. I summarized that case at some length on my blog, The Frodo Franchise, as well as announcing news of the settlement in 2009.

(For reasons that are not entirely clear to me, the film rights were sold under two contracts, one for The Two Towers and The Hobbit and the other for the two remaining volumes of The Lord of the Rings. Something to do with copyright, I believe.)

The terms of the contracts make it quite clear that the television rights were not included in the 1969 sale. They also reveal that the film rights allowed the Purchaser (as UA is referred to) a considerable latitude in expanding on the plots, characters, and settings of the books.

The term used repeatedly in the contracts for what is being sold is “certain motion picture and other rights.” These are defined as “The sole and exclusive rights to make one or more sound, silent, talking and/or musical motion picture photoplays based upon the Work or any part thereof of any type now or hereafter known, including but not limited to animated cartoon versions.” (p. 4) These are obviously not the TV rights, which presumably is why the Tolkien Estate and HarperCollins are centrally involved in the Amazon deal. They retained those rights.

Saul Zaentz got the film rights from UA, but obviously no TV rights. He did get the trademarks on all the characters, places, etc. in the books, and my guess would be that Zaentz’s company might thus be involved in merchandising deals. Those would be done under separate contracts, however, and these presumably would still need to be negotiated.

The contract also contains a very elaborate paragraph (#14) that mentions “sequels,” including television series. Basically the point is that the Seller (Tolkien Estate and George Allen & Unwin, now HarperCollins) will not sell sequel rights without giving the Purchaser (UA) a certain period in which to purchase them. If the Purchaser does not do so within that period, the Seller may sell them to a third party but prohibit the release of the sequel within a certain length of time after the release of the Purchaser’s original film. This doubly confirms that the television rights were not part of the deal made with UA.

As to what rights New Line and Amazon will have to expand on the content of the novel, the motion-picture rights in the original 1969 contract include this extremely broad provision:

“The sole and exclusive right in connection with the making, exhibition and exploitation of said motion picture photoplays to translate into all languages, to freely adapt, change, transpose, revise, rearrange, add to and subtract from the Work or any part thereof and the title, them, plot, sequences, incidents and characterizations thereof, to make interpolations in and substitutions for any part or parts thereof, to make sequels to and new versions or adaptations of the Work or any part thereof, to use any part or parts of the Work or of the theme thereof or any incidents, characters, character names, scenes, sequences or characterizations therein contained in conjunction with any other work or works, and to separately or cumulatively do any or all of the foregoing, to such extent as the Purchaser, in its sole discretion may deem expedient in the exercise of any of the rights, licenses or privileges herein conveyed and to interpolate in said motion picture photoplays music compositions, gags, lyrics, and music of all kinds, to set to music any verse, lyric, prose or part or parts of the Work and any characters thereof” (p. 4)

What this seems to mean is that New Line could go on making all sorts of sequels and spin-offs based on the appendices to LOTR, which is what seems to be implied by the statement that the series would cover story material prior to The Fellowship of the Ring. Indeed, the text is so vague that any story centered around the characters or places would be permitted. I presume that the new contract for the Amazon deal will not be quite so broad, but the appendices are part of the novel and hence should be fair game. Technically, New Line could presumably make theatrical films expanding upon the material in the appendices, but that has never seemed likely and is even less so with this TV series in the works.

On the message boards, legal eagle Voronwë the Faithful has pointed out that the original contracts included language that allowed the Purchaser to have an option to follow up with a television series within three years of the release of the last motion picture based on the trilogy or The Hobbit. The television rights were offered at a low price rather than the millions being rumored for the recent deal. The Battle of Five Armies was released in the US on December 17, 2014, so those prices should still be in effect—just barely. Voronwë offers some speculative explanations about why the original prices named are not still in force. But as he says, “We may never know the truth of the matter.”

By the way, the fact that television rights to TV movies were granted to Rankin/Bass may have had some effect on the terms of the contracts. Their animated version of The Hobbit was put into production in 1972 and premiered on NBC on November 27, 1977. Thus it became the first commercial moving-image adaptation of Tolkien’s work.

The firm intended from the start to do a second TV movie, which was originally titled Frodo, The Hobbit II, which went into production in the spring of 1978 and was shown on ABC on May 11, 1980. (It was not intended as a sequel to the only film produced by Saul Zaentz, The Lord of the Rings, released on November 15, 1978.) Possibly this two-part adaptation counted as serial television and somehow affected the terms of the contracts.

One last note. I believe that the name “Tolkien Estate and Trust” has caused some puzzlement. The Tolkien Trust is a charitable organization set up in 1977 by members of the Tolkien family. Despite the phrasing, as far as I know, the Estate and Trust are two separate entities.

For details on the history film rights’ passage from Tolkien and George Allen & Unwin to United Artists and thence to Saul Zaentz and ultimately to New Line Cinema, see Chapter 1 of my book The Frodo Franchise (2007) and my entry on film and television adaptations (Chapter 35) in Wiley Blackwell’s A Companion to J. R. R. Tolkien (2014).

]]>http://www.theonering.net/torwp/2017/11/15/104416-tolkien-rights-and-the-amazon-television-deal-some-insight/feed/0104416LOTR TV series: some background and more informationhttp://www.theonering.net/torwp/2017/11/04/104363-lotr-tv-series-some-background-and-more-information/
http://www.theonering.net/torwp/2017/11/04/104363-lotr-tv-series-some-background-and-more-information/#respondSat, 04 Nov 2017 22:54:36 +0000http://www.theonering.net/torwp/?p=104363As is to be expected, the internet, our discussion forums, and comments to our story from yesterday are abuzz with the news broken by Variety magazine yesterday of talks between Warner Brothers and Amazon to make a series adaptation based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings. Since there are many outstanding questions, we thought we’d go back over some of the background related to the movie and television rights to The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, as well as relate some additional information also published yesterday at Deadline Hollywood.

First, a history lesson and some background as to how the rights for the movies and television have changed hands over the years. J.R.R. Tolkien sold the movie rights to The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit to United Artists in 1969 who later sold them to The Saul Zaentz Company. The rights included motion pictures, merchandising, DVD, stage, and television. Through its division, Middle-earth Enterprises (formerly Tolkien Enterprises), The Saul Zaentz Company licensed the movie rights to Mirimax in 1997, which assigned them to New Line Cinema in 1998. Newline was acquired by Turner Broadcasting System in 1994, merged with Time Warner in 1996, then later merged with Warner Bros. Entertainment in 2008. All along the way, the movie rights went with them.

By now, you probably feel like asking, ‘who’s on first?!’ But, this background illustrates how Middle-earth Enterprises came to own the rights to make movies from The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit and, more importantly related to recent news, television.

One thing that remains unclear is whether Middle-earth Enterprises also assigned the rights to television; rights that eventually made their way to Warner Bros. Entertainment somewhere along the way. It’s also possible that those rights were assigned separately at some point in time, or will be assigned in the future based on the outcome of the current negotiations.

One thing that *is* clear is that J.R.R. Tolkien sold the rights to produce a television series along with the movie rights back in 1969, so those rights are no longer owned by The Tolkien Estate (i.e., Tolkien’s heirs). That makes it interesting that the Variety article, which hasn’t been updated as of this writing, would say the ‘estate of J.R.R. Tolkien’ is in talks in tandem with Warner Bros..

As the Variety article implied, Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon, has been wanting to launch a major fantasy series along the lines of HBO’s Game of Thrones. As it turns out, the project has been shopped not only to Amazon, but to Netflix and HBO as well. In an article that also came out yesterday, Nellie Andreeva at Deadline Hollywood has heard that HBO has dropped out of the running almost certainly because of the hefty price tag: upfront payments in the range of $200 – $250 million just for the rights to then produce a series that could cost up to $150 million per season.

One more thing that’s abundantly clear is that there are many unanswered questions. We’ve reached out to our contacts and will report any new developments as soon as we, or others on the internet, know of them!

]]>http://www.theonering.net/torwp/2017/11/04/104363-lotr-tv-series-some-background-and-more-information/feed/0104363Amazon and Warner Bros in talks for new ‘Lord of the Rings’ adaptationhttp://www.theonering.net/torwp/2017/11/03/104355-amazon-and-warner-bros-in-talks-for-new-lord-of-the-rings-adaptation/
http://www.theonering.net/torwp/2017/11/03/104355-amazon-and-warner-bros-in-talks-for-new-lord-of-the-rings-adaptation/#respondSat, 04 Nov 2017 04:25:51 +0000http://www.theonering.net/torwp/?p=104355Check your calendars. This is not, I repeat NOT one of our famous (or infamous) TORn April fools jokes. Variety broke the story tonight that Warner Bros. is in talks with Amazon to develop a series based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings novels! According to Variety, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos is personally involved in the negotiations, which are still in the very early stages.

From Variety: The studio and the Tolkien estate have been shopping a series based on the classic fantasy novels and their assortment of hobbits, wizards, and warriors, sparking a competitive situation from which Amazon has emerged as the frontrunner. Representatives for Amazon and Warner Bros. declined to comment.

Needless to say, this is far earlier than any of us thought we might see a remake of Tolkien’s classic story and, although early days, it seems to present an opportunity for the story to be told in more detail with fewer cuts (perhaps a lifeline for the Bombadil and Scouring of the Shire fans amongst us). Even better, it presents the prospect of another blessedly fun round of endless preliminary casting, location, music, and CGI theories that we haven’t seen in (can it really be) almost 20 years.

On the flip side, the Variety story mentions the Tolkien Estate being involved. However, the rights to produce movies from The Lord of the Rings books is currently held by the Saul Zaentz Company, dba Middle-earth Enterprises. This could mean that Middle-earth Enterprises is also involved, or it could mean that what’s being shopped around are Tolkien stories outside of the realm of The Lord of the Rings trilogy. For more news, stay tuned here at TORn as we follow the progress, and Read more now at Variety.com.

]]>http://www.theonering.net/torwp/2017/11/03/104355-amazon-and-warner-bros-in-talks-for-new-lord-of-the-rings-adaptation/feed/0104355Save the Date: Baggins Birthday Bash Sept. 23, 2017 in LAhttp://www.theonering.net/torwp/2017/09/03/103845-save-the-date-baggins-birthday-bash-sept-23-2017-in-la/
http://www.theonering.net/torwp/2017/09/03/103845-save-the-date-baggins-birthday-bash-sept-23-2017-in-la/#respondSun, 03 Sep 2017 08:01:37 +0000http://www.theonering.net/torwp/?p=103845Come One, Come All, the Baggins Birthday Bash is coming in just 3 weeks, time to party like Hobbits, Dwarves, Elves and Men, and maybe the more well behaved Orcs.

We are moving back to Griffith Park, huzzah, and to the Mineral Wells location we’ve used the past 5 or 6 years before last year’s jaunt to Long Beach. Directions can be found on our Facebook event page in the party description. The picnic will start at Noon, with activities wrapping up around 5pm so we can clean up and clear out before it gets too dark. Here are a few of the things to note:

Costumes welcome, but not required. There will be a contest, with all pomp and circumstance.

The Cake and Cupcake contest is back as well, Tolkien themed designs only, please.

Quotes contest – The Hobbit is 80 years old on September 21, so let’s keep quotes to just The Hobbit, film or book in honor of the book that introduced Middle-earth to the World.

There may be a few games as well, such as Golfimbul, depending on how much yummy food and fellowship there is, or the temperatures. Actually, the weather may also impact the number of costumes or the viability of the Cakes. I’m sure some of you remember the great Cake meltdown a few years back.

Survival, on hot days, an umbrella or pop up tent work really well, so bring them, and chairs because the park benches don’t move. On not so hot days, still bring the pop ups or at least the chairs.

Food, yes, this is a Potluck party, so bring food, at least 6 servings worth, but let’s not forget cups, plates, napkins and flatware. If you have an ice chest, bring it. Whether it is personal sized, for your own beverages, or super big to help keep lots of water, soda or juice cold. Bottles are preferred because yellowjackets do seem to like picnics too.

Please check out the Facebook event page (linked above) to RSVP your attendance and what you plan to bring, or you can RSVP to me at Garfeimao@TheOneRing.net just so we have an idea of what is being brought and where we need to fill in the gaps.

And yes, children are very welcome, bring the whole family.

]]>http://www.theonering.net/torwp/2017/09/03/103845-save-the-date-baggins-birthday-bash-sept-23-2017-in-la/feed/0103845The Champion of Middle-earth March Madness 2017 is…http://www.theonering.net/torwp/2017/04/07/102926-the-champion-of-middle-earth-march-madness-2017-is/
http://www.theonering.net/torwp/2017/04/07/102926-the-champion-of-middle-earth-march-madness-2017-is/#respondFri, 07 Apr 2017 12:09:33 +0000http://www.theonering.net/torwp/?p=102926Almost three weeks ago we began our battles in this year’s Middle-earth March Madness. Each year, we try to mix things up a bit by creating different brackets; this year the categories were Books Only,Movies Only, Wider Mythos and Movie and Book, giving us four sets of varied characters from Tolkien’s realm. We also let previous champions Gandalf, Galadriel, Samwise Gamgee and Thranduil sit it out in a ‘Champion’s Hall of Fame’ – so we knew we’d have a first time victor this year.

Before we announce the overall winner, let’s look back over the five rounds which led up to the Final:

In Movies Only, the Moth Messengers made their first appearance, but were quickly squashed under the trotters of Dain’s Boar. Sebastian the Hedgehog, however, in a blow for small mammals everywhere, vanquished the Goblin Scribe; and there were brief hopes that he might make his way onwards to win the group. Alas, in Round 2 he came up against Tauriel, and he was no match for the elf warrior.

Figwit unruffled as ever

Alfrid Lickspittle, to the relief of many, was hastily dispatched by Figwit; the immaculate elf cruised through to the Sweet Sixteen Round 3, only to be defeated there by mighty stallion Brego. This fiercesome mount was the overall victor of the Movies Only group, having beaten Tauriel in the Elite Eight round.

Brego faced the winner of the Books Only section; a tough group, featuring such legends as Goldberry, Glorfindel, Elrohir, the Barrow-wights and Quickbeam. Small wonder that Fatties Bolger and Lumpkin were unable to get past Round One! In Round Three we had the first awkward pairing of the tournament, when Tom Bombadil had to take on his wife, Goldberry. Perhaps he overcame her, or perhaps she graciously allowed him to win; either way, it was the creature in yellow boots who went on to secure the division.

Not surprisingly, some of the most popular figures appeared in the Movie and Book bracket. Here the likes of Bilbo, Pippin, Faramir and Boromir had to battle Merry, Thorin, Aragorn and other heroes. Even the villains had tough match-ups, with Smaug facing the Witch-king and Sauron up against Shelob – and these were all just first round fights! By the Sweet Sixteen, Sauron was the only bad guy still in the mix – but Elrond did what he could not at the end of the Second Age, and vanquished the Necromancer; only to fall to the section winner, Aragorn, in the Elite Eight.

That fourth round also saw our second difficult ‘lovers’ tiff’, with Beren coming up against Luthien in the Wider Mythos division. Their journey to that point had seen them conquer such worthy opponents as Feanor, Earendil, Glaurung and Varda. Even Morgoth and Eru himself couldn’t make it past Round Two! In the Elite Eight match-up, mortal man Beren was no test for his elf spouse; she won their battle with an overwhelming more than 70% of the vote, making her winner of the Wider Mythos section.

In the Semi Finals, Luthien wasn’t able to defeat another devotee of elf-maidens; she was conquered by the Ranger from the North. The other Final Four battle brought disappointment for those of us hoping for a Brego vs Aragorn final; Tom Bombadil beat the steed, taking almost two thirds of the vote.

And so Aragorn was in to his second Middle-earth March Madness final, facing a somewhat unknown quantity in the strange and ancient creature from the Old Forest. The 2200+ votes have been counted, and the winner is…

ARAGORN! The Ranger from the North, Isildur’s heir, proves himself the Once and Future King, and with almost 70% of the vote, he becomes Middle-earth March Madness Champion 2017!

Over 50,000 votes were cast in this year’s event. The majority of the voting came from the United States (60%), but places like the UK and Canada made a valiant showing with 7% each.

Thanks to all who participated in the fun this year – we hope you enjoyed it. Let us know if you have suggestions for brackets or pairings in future. Middle-earth March Madness will return in 2018!

Here are the full results for Middle-earth March Madness 2017:

]]>http://www.theonering.net/torwp/2017/04/07/102926-the-champion-of-middle-earth-march-madness-2017-is/feed/0102926Middle-earth March Madness FINAL is here! Vote now for your Champion!http://www.theonering.net/torwp/2017/04/04/102912-middle-earth-march-madness-final-is-here-vote-now-for-your-champion/
http://www.theonering.net/torwp/2017/04/04/102912-middle-earth-march-madness-final-is-here-vote-now-for-your-champion/#respondTue, 04 Apr 2017 16:35:51 +0000http://www.theonering.net/torwp/?p=102912And then there were two… We’re down to the Grand Final in Middle-earth March Madness 2017 – only one can emerge as this year’s Champion. Here’s what happened in the Final Four stage:

In Books Only vs Movies Only, we had Tom Bombadil dancing rings around loyal steed Brego, who just couldn’t come up with any answers to the yellow-booted fellow. Alas, (for those of us who were hoping for an Aragorn vs Brego final), Bombadil took almost two thirds of the vote to win this fight.

Wider Mythos vs Movie and Book saw Luthien take on a man who knows a bit about immortal elf maidens, and what it means to give your heart to one. With a similar margin to the other Semi Final, Aragorn easily defeated the pointy-eared warrior to claim his place in the Final.

Here are the full results for Middle-earth March Madness thus far:

And so we come to it at last – the great battle of our time. This year’s Championship Round in Middle-earth March Madness sees Strider, the Ranger from the North, take on Tom Bombadil, the River-woman’s daughter’s husband… How will these characters match up? Let’s take a look at some vital statistics for them both:

Tolkien describes Strider as tall, with ‘a shaggy head of dark hair flecked with grey, and in a pale stern face a pair of keen grey eyes.’ Raised by his mother at Rivendell, with Elrond as a surrogate father, he there met Arwen Undomiel. After meeting Frodo at The Prancing Pony in Bree, he became part of the Fellowship, which he then led after Gandalf’s fall in Moria.

Aragorn has participated in Middle-earth March Madness every year; he was last in the final in 2012, when he was defeated by Samwise Gamgee.

Date of Birth: Unknown. He says of himself, ‘Eldest, that’s what I am … Tom remembers the first raindrop and the first acorn … When the Elves passed westward, Tom was here already … before the Dark Lord came from Outside.’
Race: Unknown. Elrond calls him ‘a strange creature’
Spouse: Goldberry, known as ‘River-woman’s daughter”

Very little is known of Tom Bombadil. He lives in the valley of the Withywindle river, by the Old Forest. We know plenty about his appearance – Tolkien describes him as wearing ‘an old battered hat with a tall crown and a long blue feather stuck in the band.’ The Professor goes on: ‘a man, or so it seemed. At any rate he was too large and heavy for a hobbit, if not quite tall enough for one of the Big People … stumping along with great yellow boots on his thick legs … He had a blue coat and a long brown beard; his eyes were blue and bright, and his face was red as a ripe apple, but creased into a hundred wrinkles of laughter.’ He has extraordinary power within his own domain, commanding Old Man Willow and the Barrow-wights to release the hobbits, and being totally unaffected by the power of the Ring. He seems, however, to live somewhat outside the world, being mostly unconcerned with the goings-on of the other races of Middle-earth.

Bombadil has been in Middle-earth March Madness several times, but has never before made it past Round 2.

If Bombadil and Aragorn were to ride into battle, Aragorn (in the movies, at least) would ride in on Brego; Tom would come on his faithful pony, Fatty Lumpkin.

Will Strider be overcome by ancient and powerful magic? Or will Tom’s nonchalant attitude be defeated by the warrior skills of the Ranger from the North?

After a fairly close fight, Brego is the victor of the Movies Only group! Elf warrior Tauriel just couldn’t overcome the battle-hardened steed; could we be heading towards that Aragorn vs Brego final? It’s certainly still on the cards, as Aragorn comfortably defeated Elrond to emerge as champion of the Movie and Books category.

Books Only was neck and neck right up to the last moment, with yellow boots taking on pointy ears; Tom Bombadil finally won over Glorfindel, with a margin of just over 1%! So it is Tom who goes on to face Brego in the Semi Final. Aragorn’s opponent in this penultimate round will be courageous elf maiden Luthien, who was pitted against her own true love Beren in the Elite Eight. The mortal man proved to be no match for her, with Luthien taking over 70% of the vote in the Wider Mythos pairing. After all the trials they endured in Angband, let’s hope their love survived this latest challenge!

Here are the full results from the Elite Eight:

Voting for the Final Four matches is now open! You have until April 3rd 10pm EST to have your say. Will we see that Brego/Aragorn final? You decide – VOTE NOW!

In the Movies Only group, Tauriel continues to show her warrior strength, seeing off Lurtz by a pretty wide margin. Less expected was the other result in this category – Figwit’s untroubled progess thus far was halted in a convincing manner, as he was easily beaten by fiercesome steed Brego.

Books Only saw pairings with very wide margins of victory: Glorfindel defeated Prince Imrahil with more than 80% of the vote, and in the most awkward battle thus far, Tom Bombadil conquered his spouse Goldberry. Tom had almost three quarters of the vote in this fight; personally, I was hoping that Goldberry would rain on his parade, but it wasn’t to be. I hope they’re still speaking…

In Movie and Books, Elrond managed what he couldn’t at the end of the Second Age, defeating Sauron without any problems. Aragorn also had an easy win – I’m afraid Bilbo proved no match for the Ranger from the North. So we’re still on for a potential final between loyal horse Brego and the man he saved… Could be interesting!

And finally, in the Wider Mythos set, we’re looking at a battle to rival the awkwardness of the Bombadil/Goldberry fight… Yes, devoted lovers Luthien and Beren are through, and will face each other in the Quarter Finals. TORn will need to start offering couples’ counselling if we’re going to make a habit of these kind of matches!

Here are the full results from the third round:

You can vote in the Quarter Finals until March 31st 10pm EST. Beren or Luthien? Immortal elf-maiden or the man who risked all to win her hand? You decide – VOTE NOW!

So the battle drums continue to beat, and sixteen weary victors continue on into Round 3 of Middle-earth March Madness 2017! Only YOU (and as many of your friends as you can round up to join in the voting) can decide who will make it on to the Quarter Finals. Let’s see who’s still with us:

First up, the Movies Only category, where characters created by PJ and his gang fight it out in search of eternal (until next year, at least) glory: Aragorn’s loyal Brego had no trouble seeing off Mumak Mahud – clearly the rider is no match for the horse. Figwit defeated Mrs Proudfoot without disturbing a hair on his immaculate head; and it will come as a big disappointment (but perhaps no surprise) to some that Sebastian’s dreams of conquest are over. Yes, despite a brave fight from the spiny mammal, pointy-eared warrior Tauriel came out ahead, and progresses to Round 3.

On to Books Only, where Goldberry and Tom Bombadil continue on without any real problems. They may not have made it into the movies, but they have made it to Round 3 – where, awkwardly, they now have to face each other. Glorfindel joins them, but sadly Quickbeam was too slow to get going in this round, and was defeated by Prince Imrahil.

In Movie and Books, Bilbo is holding the torch for all hobbits; with Merry defeated by Aragorn, Mr Baggins is the only halfling still in the contest, having narrowly beaten Faramir. (With Aragorn and Brego both continuing on, we find ourselves wondering – what if they were to meet in the final? Would Brego be half-mad enough to vanquish his kingly friend, or would he have seen enough of war by then, and concede to the man he saved?)

Finally, in the Wider Mythos set, Luthien and Beren progress together, having seen off Glaurung and Feanor. In The Silmarillion, we learn that of all the Valar, Morgoth feared Varda the most; and well he might, as after a close run battle between them, Varda emerged victorious. But it is in this category that we find the biggest upset of this round – Earendil is sailing on, after a shock victory over Eru! Who would have expected a Mariner to beat Middle-earth’s supreme being? They don’t call it March Madness for nothing, you know…

Here are the full results from the second round:

Round 3 voting is open until March 28th 10pm EST. Will Goldberry final show Tom exactly what she thinks of his yellow boots and his ‘Ring a dong dillos’? In a showdown worthy of the end of the Second Age, will Elrond conquer the dark lord Sauron? It’s up to you – vote now!

]]>http://www.theonering.net/torwp/2017/03/26/102836-middle-earth-march-madness-round-2-results-and-vote-now-for-round-3/feed/0102836March Madness Round 2- be sure to vote!http://www.theonering.net/torwp/2017/03/25/102863-march-madness-round-2-be-sure-to-vote/
http://www.theonering.net/torwp/2017/03/25/102863-march-madness-round-2-be-sure-to-vote/#respondSat, 25 Mar 2017 18:33:56 +0000http://www.theonering.net/torwp/?p=102863If you haven’t yet voted in Round 2 of TheOneRing.net’s March Madness competition, now is the time to do so! This round is producing some VERY interesting results among the 32 remaining contestants. Neck-and-neck battles currently include:

In the Movies Only division, the lovely Tauriel has a narrow lead over Sebastian the Hedgehog. Can elvish archery prowess win out over sheet unadulterated cuteness?

In the Movies and Books division there are currently two contests that are too close to call: Smaug vs. Sauron and Bilbo vs. Faramir. Fire is sure to be involved in the battle between the two Middle-earth arch-villains: the wily dragon Smaug and the Dark Lord Sauron. Could the fact that today is March 25, the day of Sauron’s defeat in The Return of the King give Smaug a slight edge, or might Sauron’s victory be guaranteed by knowledge of the bare spot on Smaug’s breast? How does one chose between two of Middle-earth’s most virtuous heroes: Bilbo and Faramir? Can Faramir’s Gondorian armour withstand a blow from Sting?

Fingolfin Challenges Morgoth – John Howe

The Wider Mythos division has another close contest in the works between evil incarnate, Morgoth, and the mighty Varda, queen of the Valar. In The Silmarillion, it took all of the might of the Valar to defeat Morgoth. Can Varda do it on her own? Can the light defeat the darkness one more time? It’s up to you to decide! Round 2 voting is open until 10:00 p.m. EST tonight. Go here to vote, and join us in deciding these, and other great battles going on right now.

]]>http://www.theonering.net/torwp/2017/03/25/102863-march-madness-round-2-be-sure-to-vote/feed/0102863Tolkien Reading Day 2017http://www.theonering.net/torwp/2017/03/25/102842-tolkien-reading-day-2017/
http://www.theonering.net/torwp/2017/03/25/102842-tolkien-reading-day-2017/#respondSat, 25 Mar 2017 17:33:19 +0000http://www.theonering.net/torwp/?p=102842In The Lord of The Rings, The Return of the King, March 25, 3019 marked the day the Ring of Power was destroyed and Sauron was defeated. In ‘modern day’ 2017, March 25 marks the day Tolkien fans around the world, in groups or individually, read from their favorite works by author J.R.R. Tolkien.

Tolkien Reading Day is a tradition stared in 2003 by the Tolkien Society. From their Tolkien Reading Day webpage: It has been organised by the Tolkien Society since 2003 to encourage fans to celebrate and promote the life and works of J.R.R. Tolkien by reading favourite passages. We particularly encourage schools, museums and libraries to host their own Tolkien Reading Day events.

Each year, the Society selects a theme for the day, and this year’s theme is Poetry and Song. This opens up an amazing number of possibilities for reading for today. One of the most delightful aspects of The Hobbit, and The Lord of the Rings in particular, was how Tolkien interspersed poems and songs throughout the story. They added a depth of understanding of Tolkien’s characters and cultures that were unique to his works.

Who doesn’t feel Bilbo and Frodo’s sense of adventure when they read: “The road goes ever on and on, down from the door where it began”? No less is the thrill of reading “Arise now, arise, Riders of Théoden!”, or the amusement at Sam’s: “Troll sat alone on a seat of stone and munched and mumbled a bare old bone.”

Tolkien’s poems weren’t limited to his novels. If you haven’t read it, The Adventures of Tom Bombadil offers a collection of 16 poems not published elsewhere. In it, we learn that old Farmer Maggot and Tom Bombadil were acquainted, enjoy an alternate version of The Man in the Moon, and learn the haunting story of the traveler in The Sea Bell:

There still afloat waited a boat, in the tide lifting, its prow tossing.Weary I lay, as it bore me away,the waves climbing, the seas crossing

The Mewlips – Pauline Baynes

One of my favorites is The Mewlips:

through the wood of hanging trees and gallows-weed, you go to find the Mewlips – and the Mewlips feed.“

Makes me shiver every time!

So, indulge yourself today! Get one (or more) of those Tolkien books from your bookshelf, crack it open,, and spend a few minutes (or hours), reading! If you’d like to join other fans, check out the Tolkien Society links above for planned gatherings. Which poem or song is your favorite? Which makes you smile? Which makes you sad? Which is your all-time favorite? Let us know!